


Two Golden Rings

by bry0psida



Series: 12 Days Of Harringrove [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, No smut but mention of, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bry0psida/pseuds/bry0psida
Summary: It's the best Christmas Billy's ever had.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove
Series: 12 Days Of Harringrove [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580533
Comments: 2
Kudos: 98





	Two Golden Rings

It’s the best Christmas Billy’s had. Susan and Neil fucked off with Max on vacation. Neil had said there just _wasn’t enough money for everyone to go_ , Billy doesn’t give a damn, can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than in Steve’s kitchen, vigorously fanning the smoke detector with a dish towel as Steve opens and closes the door to try and get enough airflow to shut the damn thing up.

It stops screaming after about two minutes. Steve leaves the door open, pads over to the still closed oven. Billy’s ready with the towel in case any residual smoke gets the alarm going again. Steve slips on oven mitts and opens the door, takes out the burnt chicken and drops the pan on the side with a huff.

“I ruined it,” Steve says.

Billy slings the towel round his shoulder, comes to inspect the damage. It’s pretty bad. “No you didn’t.”

“Billy, it’s black.”

“Black’s a good colour,”

“It’s rock hard,”

Billy wiggles his brows, elbows Steve in the side gently. “Nothin’ wrong with that, either.”

Steve gets his hands on his hips, exasperated. “Billy!”

Billy mirrors his posture. “Steve!” He's actually starting to look pretty upset, Billy can see the corner of his lip twitching. “Hey, it’s ok. We can just cut off the burnt parts, alright? Drown the rest in gravy.”

Steve mumbles. “I guess.”

Billy grabs the carving knife off the side, starts sawing through what might as well be an exoskeleton, tries desperately not to laugh so Steve doesn’t think it’s at his expense. He just about manages.

Steve gets to work plating the vegetables and whips up the gravy. It’s quiet while they work, save for the Christmas mixtape Billy made playing softly in the background and the comical grind of the carving knife cutting through charred chicken.

They’re being fancy tonight, all fresh ingredients, nothing frozen or packaged. Billy even swiped a couple bottles of wine from the liquor store. Steve insisted on doing everything themselves. Billy wasn’t fussed, just happy to be here at all. He’ll do anything Steve wants.

They eat at the table. Steve dug out the candles and placemats, even made a little centrepiece out of miscellaneous decorations he didn’t know what else to do with. It’s nice, it’s so nice.

Billy watches Steve take the first bite off chicken, ready to console in case it is ruined. Steve hums, Billy relaxes.

“It’s not ruined, then?”

“Mm mm,”

“Just about edible?” Billy teases. Steve smirks at him shyly.

“Shut up,”

Billy shuts up, eats his dinner.

They do the dishes like always, Steve washes, Billy dries. They’ve gotten into a rhythm after so many nights together. It should be boring. It’s domestic, fulfilling. It’s everything Billy never knew he wanted.

After dinner they get more than a little tipsy, make it about halfway through Trading Places before Billy’s grinding into Steve’s back, kissing his neck. He pauses the movie, wriggles out of Billy’s grasp.

“Presents first, sex after.”

Billy frowns. “I thought we weren’t doing presents?”

“It’s actually a present singular,”

“ _Steve_ ,”

“Really! It’s not a present. You’ll see.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything,”

“Well, I did.”

Billy sits up, closes his eyes and holds out his hands like a child. Steve laughs at him, hands him the box. It’s not huge, but bigger than what Billy expected, weighs almost nothing. He shakes it, definitely hears something sliding around. He tears off the snowman wrapping paper, opens the box to find…another box. He looks at Steve.

“Keep going,”

Billy does. Inside the next box is another box. And then another, and another, and another. They’re getting smaller and smaller, it was funny after the first 3 but it’s getting kind of annoying now. “How many of these did you do?”

“You’re almost there, keep going.” Steve stands, bites his lip, looking shifty. “You want more wine?”

“Sure, maybe I’ll get to the actual present once we’ve finished the bottle.” Steve’s laugh is a little high, he’s nervous. Billy opens the last box while Steve is still out of the room. Inside is a velvet jewelry box, big enough for a ring. He probably splashed out on something and doesn’t think Billy’ll like it. _‘Not really a present’ my ass_.

Billy flips open the box. There’s two rings inside, both gold. They’re minimal, classy, not the sort of thing Billy usually wears. He loves them. Billy hears Steve clear his throat, turns in his seat, drops the box on the carpet when he sees Steve’s down on one knee.

“What- what are you doing?”

Steve’s laugh is breathy, self conscious. He rakes a hand through his hair.

“What’s it look like?”

“It looks like you’re about to propose to me,”

Steve grabs the box from between Billy’s feet. “There are two rings in here.”

“Oh my god,"

Billy’s heart is in his throat. This is too good to be true, Billy Hargrove doesn’t get to have his cake and eat it too, Billy Hargrove doesn’t get forever, doesn’t deserve it.

“We…we _can’t_.”

Steve looks a little crestfallen, but doesn’t let Billy’s response stop him. “Why?”

“The law, for a start.”

“Marriage is just a piece of paper and a tax break. We don’t even pay taxes.”

“Not yet,”

“Look, I know we’re still young and we can’t do the big wedding with the party and the photos, but I figured we don’t need all of that. We’d know, and that’s what matters. I want you in my life, Billy. And that’s not gonna change. Not ever.” Billy makes a strangled sound, something between a whimper and a sob. Steve’s eyes are shining as he holds out the rings, heart on his sleeve. “Billy Hargrove, you came into my life like a god damn tornado, turned my world completely upside down. I knew when we met my life was about to change, I’d never have guessed this is where we’d end up. I couldn’t be happier.” Steve takes a shaky breath, knocks a tear away with a knuckle before it can fall. “Will you marry me?”

Billy doesn’t trust himself not to break down if he opens his mouth so he just nods, holds out a trembling hand. Steve lights up like a Christmas tree. He doesn’t slide it on Billy’s ring finger, opts for the middle instead. Billy didn’t even think about that. Steve’s so damn thoughtful. He feels like the luckiest man in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> picture me as I boot up my computer at 12 am to start another festive harringrove series i don't have the energy for, blasting here i go again by whitesnake. that's my creative process.


End file.
